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10 Ways to Destroy Your Portfolio
With the increased frequency of heightened volatility, investing has never been as challenging as it is today. However, the importance of investing has never been more crucial either, due to rising life expectancies, corrosive effects of inflation, and the uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of government programs like Social Security, Medicare, and pensions.
If you are not wasting enough money from our structurally flawed and loosely regulated investment industry that is inundated with conflicts of interest, here are 10 additional ways to destroy your investment portfolio:
#1. Watch and React to Sensationalist News Stories: Typically, strategists and pundits do a wonderful job of parroting the consensus du jour. With the advent of the internet, and 24/7 news cycles, it is difficult to not get caught up in the daily vicissitudes. However, the accuracy of the so-called media experts is no better than weather forecasters' accuracy in predicting the weather three Saturdays from now at 10:23 a.m. Investors would be better served by listening to and learning from successful, seasoned veterans (see Investing Caffeine Profiles).
#2. Invest for the Short-Term and Attempt Market Timing: Investing is a marathon, and not a sprint, yet countless investors have the arrogance to believe they can time the market. A few get lucky and time the proper entry point, but the same investors often fail to time the appropriate exit point. The process works similarly in reverse, which hammers home the idea that you can be 200% wrong when you are constantly switching your portfolio positions.
#3. Blindly Invest Without Knowing Fees: Like a dripping faucet, fees, transaction costs, taxes, and other charges may not be noticeable in the short-run, but combined, these portfolio expenses can be devastating in the long-run. Whether you or your broker/advisor knowingly or unknowingly is churning your account, the practice should be immediately halted. Passive investment products and strategies like ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), index funds, and low turnover (long time horizon / tax-efficient) investing strategies are the way to go for investors.
#4. Use Technical Analysis as a Primary Strategy: Warren Buffett openly recognizes the problem with technical analysis as evidenced by his statement, "I realized technical analysis didn't work when I turned the charts upside down and didn't get a different answer." Legendary fund manager Peter Lynch adds, "Charts are great for predicting the past." Most indicators are about as helpful as astrology, but in rare instances some facets can serve as a useful device (like a Lob Wedge in golf).
#5. Panic-Sell out of Fear & Panic-Buy out of Greed: Emotions can devastate portfolio returns when investors' trading activity follows the herd in good times and bad. As the old saying goes, "The herd is lead to the slaughterhouse." Gary Helms rightly identifies the role that overconfidence plays when ininvesting when he states,"If you have a great thought and write it down, it will look stupid 10 hours later." The best investment returns are earned by traveling down the less followed path. Or as Rob Arnott describes, "In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable." Get a broad range of opinions and continually test your investment thesis to make sure peer pressure is not driving key investment decisions.
#6. Ignore Valuation and Yield: Valuation is like good pitching in baseball…very important. Valuation may not cause all of your investments to win, but this factor should be an integral part of your investment process. Successful investors think about valuation similarly to skilled sports handicappers. Steven Crist summed it up beautifully when he said, "There are no 'good' or 'bad' horses, just correctly or incorrectly priced ones." The same principle applies to investments. Dividends and yields should not be overlooked – these elements are an essential part of an investor's long-run total return.
#7. Buy and Forget: "Buy-and-hold" is good for stocks that go up in price, and bad for stocks that go flat or decline in value. Wow, how deeply profound. As I have written in the past, there are always reasons of why you should not invest for the long-term and instead sell your position, such as: 1) new competition; 2) cost pressures; 3) slowing growth; 4) management change; 5) excessive valuation; 6) change in industry regulation; 7) slowing economy; 8 ) loss of market share; 9) product obsolescence; 10) etc, etc, etc. You get the idea.
#8. Over-Concentrate Your Portfolio: If you own a top-heavy portfolio with large weightings, sleeping at night can be challenging, and also force average investors to make bad decisions at the wrong times (i.e., buy high and sell low). While over-concentration can be risky, over-diversification can eat away at performance as well – owning a 100 different mutual funds is costly and inefficient.
#9. Stuff Money Under Your Mattress: With interest rates at the lowest levels in a generation, stuffing money under the mattress in the form of CDs (Certificates of Deposit), money market accounts, and low-yielding Treasuries that are earning next to nothing is counter-productive for many investors. Compounding this problem is inflation, a silent killer that will quietly disintegrate your hard earned investment portfolio. In other words, a penny saved inefficiently will lead to a penny depreciating rapidly.
#10. Forget Your Mistakes: Investing is difficult enough without naively repeating the same mistakes. As Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results." Mistakes will be made and it behooves investors to document them and learn from them. Brushing your mistakes under the carpet may make you temporarily feel better emotionally, but will not help your financial returns.
As the year approaches a close, do yourself a favor and evaluate whether you are committing any of these damaging habits. Investing is tough enough already, without adding further ways of destroying your portfolio.


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cpants_lint.pl (1) - Linux Manuals
cpants_lint.pl: commandline frontend to Module::CPANTS::Analyse
cpants_lint.pl - commandline frontend to Module::CPANTS::Analyse
cpants_lint.pl path/to/Foo-Dist-1.42.tgz Options: --help brief help message --man full documentation --verbose print more info during run --no_capture don't turn on capturing of STDERR and STDOUT --dump dump result using Data::Dumper --yaml dump result as YAML --to_file dump result to a file --dir directory to dump files to
"cpants_lint.pl" checks the Kwalitee of CPAN distributions. More exact, it checks how a given tarball will be rated on "http://cpants.perl.org", without needing to upload it first."cpants_lint.pl" is also used by "cpants.perl.org" itself to check all dists on CPAN.
For more information on Kwalitee, and the whole of CPANTS, see "http://cpants.perl.org" and / or "Module::CPANTS::Analyse".
If neither "--dump" nor "--yaml" are used, a short text describing the Kwalitee of the distribution and hints on how to raise Kwalitee will be displayed. The format of this text can change anytime, so don't use it for any automated processing!--help
Print a brief help message.
Print manpage.
Print some informative messages during testing of dists.
Turn off capturing of STDOUT and STDERR. Mostly usefull during debugging / development of new features.
If "--no_capture" is used, the value of "cpants_error" might be wrong.
Dump the result using Data::Dumper
Dump the result as YAML.
Output the result into a file instead of STDOUT.
The name of the file will be Foo-Dist.yaml (well, the extension depends on the dump format and can be ".yaml", ".dump" or ".txt")
Directory to dump files to. Defaults to the current working directory.
Thomas Klausner <https://metacpan.org/author/domm>COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright X 2003X2006, 2009 Thomas Klausner <https://metacpan.org/author/domm>You may use and distribute this module according to the same terms that Perl is distributed under.

subset: commoncrawl


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Greenlink has partnered with Google to make using public transportation in Greenville even more convenient.
Riders can now utilize Google Transit, a popular web-based application that uses data provided by Greenlink, to plan their trips using their smartphone, tablet or desktop. The app allows riders to customize their routes, view interactive maps and get walking directions to the nearest bus stop and to their destination once they leave the bus.
Access Google Transit using the widget at right, or via the Google Transit website. Google Transit provides step-by-step directions and information, including:
Customers may also be interested in using the Moovit tool to plan their route.
Interested in using Greenlink's GTFS data for map and route planning development?
Greenlink GTFS feed: https://greenlink.cadavl.com:5053/GTA/GTFS/GTFS_GTA.zip
Greenlink GTFS-RT feed:


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We recently told you that both the Curve 8520 and the Bold 9700 were entered in Rogers' upgrade system, and now the former can finally be found in its natural habitat — and by natural habitat, we mean leaked shots on BGR. Currently running OS 22.214.171.1244, the Rogers 8520 appears to have escaped from one of RIM's manufacturing plants without having been horribly disfigured by physical branding. We think it would be foolish to assume this will be the case once the device launches, but at least there's hope. You know the drill; hit the jump for a couple more pics.
Thanks, Guiscard!


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Don't Forget the "Tech" in "AdTech"
Today's IPO by Tremor Video is seen by many as a harbinger for the adtech community (full disclosure: Tremor Video is a Flybridge portfolio company). Rightly so. Tremor is the first public offering of an adtech company since Millenial Media's IPO in April 2012. One can argue how successful the Tremor IPO was, and the broader industry implications, based on the first day's opening price and trading, but the real test of these offerings is what happens next - how companies perform and execute over the next few quarters.
One thing that is clear, though, is that the advertising community would be wise to keep an eye on the "tech" portion of "adtech". I have argued in the past that software is eating marketing. Simply put, technology is radically transforming the marketing function and the role of the marketing professional. The flow of advertising dollars into digital, addressable media is well-documented and well-understood. It is estimated that in 2013, $100 billion will be spent on digital forms of advertising, representing more than 20% of the total advertising market and continuing to grow rapidly in share (see chart above).
Less understood is that managing digital advertising is far more complex than its analog counterpart. Advertising agencies have retained their industry wide hegemony as a result of this complexity. With so many new technology vendors popping up and so many immature point solutions being deployed, the core competence of agencies has gone from being great at relationship managemnent to being great at technology platform management. As DataXu's Mike Baker likes to say, Mad Men have become Math Men.
But, in every industry, software improves and gets simpler and simpler. Technology platforms gain in scale, become more mainstream and training programs become more mature. As all this happens, agency services are required less and less.
So, the lesson that may get loss in the Tremor IPO hoopla? Agencies are being transformed. Technology companies are sweeping into the advertising industry, much like they did in marketing (see Salesforce.com, Eloqua/Oracle, Exact Target/SalesForce, Neolane/Adobe). And the days of getting the job done with thin technology in combination with armies of bodies are over. To be a valued, strategic player in the market, you had better have a thick, differentiated technology stack.


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The Five Systems of Five Buddha-Families
We've seen that when we speak about the five Buddha-families, if we look at it from the dimension of what will develop into all the aspects of a Buddha, we have this one set of five: mental activity, good qualities, verbal expression, physical expression and influence – or body, speech, mind, qualities and activity – depending on how we want to phrase them. Obviously, we have all of these as a Buddha as well. Each of these five can be divided into the five Buddha-families: there are five different styles of mental activity; five different styles of verbal expression; five different styles of physical expression – referring to the five elements; five different types of activity – the way that we influence others; five different types of good qualities. These can be classified into these Buddha-families, and this is where the variation comes. How do we define these five variants, let's say of mental activity? Which family do we put them in? Again, there are several different systems.
Just for your reference, let me mention the five systems that I'm familiar with. As I said, there may be more.
- There's the general anuttarayoga tantra system (anuttarayoga is the highest class of tantra). Within that, there's the variant that we find in the Gelug system (the Gelugpa system) and the variant that we find in the non-Gelugpa systems: that's Kagyu, Nyingma and Sakya. The usual difference is in terms of what's called the mirror-like awareness and the awareness of reality or dharmadhatu awareness; these are reversed: in these two systems, where one has the mirror, the other has the reality awareness and vice versa, as they're defined slightly differently in accordance with their whole approach to voidness meditation.
- Then, there is the system that we find specifically in the Karma Kagyu tradition, which most people in the West know by the Tibetan name "namshe yeshe" (rnam-shes ye-shes). This is a system in connection with mahamudra meditation, which is speaking about deep awareness, general awareness and specific awareness. It's another system from the Karma Kagyu mahamudra approach. There seem to be two variations here within that system, just as we had two variations in the general anuttarayoga, and the variation is exactly concerning the same point: one system has the mirror-like awareness, the other has reality awareness, and vice versa – these two are exchanged. What are these two systems? Within Karma Kagyu, one is a system that we find in, for instance, the Great Jamgon Kongtrul's commentaries, and the other one is the one that we find in Trungpa's interpretation. I have no idea what his source is, where he gets his interpretation, or where he switches reality and mirror-like awareness, but he has that variation. That's what we find in Maitri space awareness.
- Then, there's the fifth system, the Kalachakra system, which is yet again something different. It wouldn't surprise me if within the Kalachakra system as well, we find the two different types of commentaries that will again switch the mirror-like and the reality awarenesses; that wouldn't surprise me.
The two variations are quite interesting. If you'd like to know where it comes from, why the mirror-like and reality awarenesses are interchanged, it has to do with a mandala and who is the central figure in the mandala: is it Vairochana or Akshobhya? The earlier tantras that were translated into Tibetan tended to emphasize Vairochana in the center, and the ones that came later tended to emphasize Akshobhya in the center. It's from this that we get this variation.
Anyway, this is the situation. I'm not saying that one system is better than the other, just as we can't say that Chinese medicine is better or worse than Ayurvedic medicine. They are just other systems, and each has a whole system built around them. It's important to at least be aware of that, then we're not confused. At least I find this for myself – and I would hope that other people would find it as well – that when we know the source of the system, we can be a little bit calmer about the whole thing – that it's not just that somebody made up this, and somebody made up that, and it's arbitrary and so on, but that each of these five or six systems, or however many more systems there might be, actually comes from a certain tradition, a certain viewpoint, and has a whole development. Then, there's a tradition, and we can accept that there are different traditions.
Basis, Path and Resultant Ways of Describing the Five Types of Deep Awareness
Let's start to work with some of the fivefold divisions of these five basic aspects: body, speech, mind, qualities and activity. Obviously, we won't have time to go through all of this, but just some representative ones. We start with the five in terms of the mind or mental activity. These are five different ways in which we are aware of things. Let's start with the way that these five are defined in the general anuttarayoga tantra system. Let's work with the Gelug variation of that, then we know what we're working with. This is what I explain in my book Developing Balanced Sensitivity. The exercise that is in there is based on this particular system of these five types of what is called "deep awareness."
One of the points in this presentation is that if we talk about Buddha-nature, in order to really understand it, we have to be able to not only identify it in ourselves, but a worm has to have this as well. If we can understand it on the level that a worm also has it, then it really is Buddha-nature, right? It's something that everybody has, not just human beings. Obviously, if a worm has it, there's no reason to feel low self-esteem about ourselves because we have it too, and compared to a worm, we probably have it a little bit more well-developed than the worm. That's why I say it's important to be able to also identify it in a worm. This particular presentation is quite easy to recognize in a worm. That's why I like it very much.
We can always speak about these Buddha-nature aspects in terms of the basis situation. They're what everybody has, including a worm: the path aspect is the one in which they are developed as a spiritual pathway to enlightenment, and then, the resultant level concerns what a Buddha has. Some systems emphasize much more the basis presentation of this, so we can identify with a worm. Other systems of presenting these Buddha-nature factors are speaking much more on the pathway level of when they're actually developed – it would be very difficult to identify these in a worm; we identify them much more in what a practitioner is experiencing. That's the way it's being described. Although we could find the basis level of it, that's not really how it's being described. It's being presented from the point of view of the path. Then, other presentations are presenting Buddha-families from the point of view of the result. These are the ones that are talking about Buddha-families in terms of the iconography of mandalas: the colors, the Buddha figures and what they look like. That's hard to relate to a worm, isn't it? There are many different presentations depending on what point of view we're describing the Buddha-families from: the basis, path and result.
What I'd like to do in this course is not only present a taste in terms of experience of what we're talking about with these Buddha-families, but also give the structure for being able to then work with other presentations of them that we might find in books, what other teachers teach, and so on. Otherwise, this is such a bewildering topic that it is very easy to get quite lost and confused.
In terms of the mental activity we have, although they are sometimes called "Buddha-wisdom," that's not a particularly appropriate word for describing what a worm has; for instance, it's hard to say that a worm has five types of wisdom. This is why I simply call it awareness, and it is deep awareness because it is very fundamental. To call it a Buddha-wisdom is describing it from the point of view of the result. With the Buddha, it's wisdom; but with a worm, it's awkward to call it wisdom. See how this basis, path and result very much influences the way it's described and the vocabulary that's used. In terms of our awareness, our mental activity, let me first describe these five. Then, we can work with them.
Mirror-Like (or Camera-Like) Awareness
First, we have what's called "mirror-like awareness." A mirror is the image that is used – we have to think in terms of when Buddha taught. In our modern times, "camera" would be a little bit more appropriate because, with this awareness, what we do is just take in information. The word "mirror" is a bit misleading because it reflects, although it takes the information and reflects it, we're not talking about the reflecting aspect here. We're talking like a camera; it just takes in information.
We're not limiting our discussion here just to sight, such as taking in visual information like a camera does, but also the microphone, taking in sound information; we can extend it to all the senses, to the mind as well, in terms of taking in all the information about all the different aspects of feeling that we have, for example. There's smell, taste, physical sensation, and the mental faculty as well, because we can take in all the information, which could be very complex information about how we feel at the moment. There's unhappiness, there's also a little bit of annoyance, and there's also a little bit of impatience. There are many, many different aspects of the information that is there in terms of, "How do I feel?" The term "mirror-like," or "camera-like" means that this deep awareness takes in just the information.
To take in from the five senses and not the mind?
No, the mind is another dimension of this. It's just the information, the camera. Just taking a picture of what emotional thing we are feeling now. There are many, many different pieces of information that are all occurring at one moment.
But the feeling is occurring in the mind?
Yes. We're not talking just about physical sensations or feelings: cold, hot and pain – these types of things. Those, of course, a worm has as well. A worm sees, hears, feels, etc. We're also talking about taking in the information about our feelings of happiness and unhappiness and our emotional feelings. It's just taking in information. We may not pay attention to everything, but the information is coming in.
For example, we have been looking at each other around this circle. We have seen what clothing each person is wearing, and we may not be able to remember that, but that information has come in. That's a factor of attention: how much attention we pay to that information the camera took in. All these mental factors are there. Anyway, the information, that's the mirror-like or camera-like awareness.
Equalizing, Individualizing and Accomplishing Awarenesses
Then, there's the equalizing awareness. Equalizing means to simply consider several things at the same time, to put them together. To look at, let's say these three persons opposite me, to put them equally together, to consider them together. A worm does that as well. Then, there's the individualizing awareness. With the equalizing, we can obviously only put a few things or a lot of things together. The individualizing is just focusing on one thing and the individuality of that thing as an individual. Then, there's the accomplishing awareness, which is the awareness to relate to an object in some way: to do something with it or toward it – to relate.
Dharmadhatu Awareness
There's what is called in Sanskrit "dharmadhatu awareness." Dharmadhatu means the sphere of reality; for short, I call it "reality awareness." It has two aspects: the awareness of the conventional reality of things – that we all have – and then the awareness of the deepest reality of things, which is a little bit more difficult. Usually, the awareness of the conventional reality of things accompanies the other four.
This reality awareness would be what something is. We take in information like the camera, and that goes together with what it is. This is a table; this is a floor; this is food; this is a rock. If we think in terms of a worm, the worm might not have the word "rock" or "food," but the worm has the concept of rock or food. Concepts don't have to be verbal; the worm knows what it is. So, we take in the information and we know what it is.
Further, equalizing is considering several things at the same time, which may or may not be present at the moment, and putting them together. Well, how do they fit together? This is food. A worm sees a colored shape and puts it together with other colored shapes that it saw before, knows that it is food, and puts it together into categories; it sees the patterns. Equalizing just puts things together into a category, and the conventional reality (the reality awareness) is what category it is. It is all food.
These three forms that I see, these colored shapes on the other side of the room, are three women. I'm putting them together, and what category do they fit in? The reality awareness is, what is the category? They are all equally women. It's how we process information. We don't just take in information; we have to process that information. We do that in terms of putting things together into categories: into universals, in a sense, and we see the patterns. I mean everybody has that; it's a matter of how much we extend it to see everybody equally as wanting to be happy and not wanting to suffer so that we can equally have compassion toward everybody. Obviously, this can be developed, but that basic ability to put things together – consider several things together, and then to see what they have in common, that's the reality awareness. We all have that. A worm has that as well. Otherwise, how in the world would a worm be able to eat if it couldn't recognize food?
Then, individualizing awareness just specifies one individual thing, and the conventional reality awareness is what are the special features of this one thing. I can put these three people together, with equalizing, into the category of men, but I can also know their individuality, as in this is Hans-Harald, this is Matthias, this is Kes, etc. We know the individuality, not only that they come together, but we also know the individual identity of things. The individualizing sees it as an individual, and then the reality awareness asks, "What is it? Which one in this category is it?"
Doesn't dharmadhatu awareness refer to all-encompassing awareness?
It depends on how we translate it, as either all-encompassing awareness or reality awareness. It also depends on how we define this awareness and what system we're using. In the system I'm using we would define and translate it as reality awareness. It makes more sense. All-encompassing is in another system. As I said, these different types of awareness can be defined differently in each of these five systems. In each system, we can identify the five within us as defined in that system. However, it's important to just work with one system at a time; otherwise, we fall completely into confusion.
The accomplishing awareness is to relate. There is the basic awareness to relate to something, and then conventional reality awareness is how to relate. How do we relate to this particular individual? I would speak in a certain way to an adult; I would speak in another way to a child; I would speak in another way to a dog. It's based on the individuality and, although there is the awareness to relate, through conventional reality awareness we would know how to relate and in what manner to relate.
Obviously, a Buddha has this fully developed, so a Buddha is able to know the individuality of every single sentient being and how best to teach and lead that being. This is the relating awareness: how to lead that being to enlightenment. The worm takes in the information of this colored shape, knows that it's food, puts it in that category, focuses on this individual piece of food, and knows it's over there and what to do with it; it knows to eat it and how to relate to this thing. The way to relate to it is to eat it, as opposed to fighting it, making love to it, or whatever. A worm has all of those.
The deepest reality awareness is that things don't exist permanently, solidly in this category and in that category. It's more open. This allows for our flexibility to be able to deal with situations in different ways as they develop. "This person I relate to in this way, and that's the only way, permanently." Well, if we're like that with our child, and we continue to act in that way when the child is grown up, we're in big trouble. Obviously, this deepest reality awareness allows us to be flexible and to relate in different ways as the child develops – or in a personal relationship with somebody – to relate in different ways in accordance with the circumstance, because we see that it is open, that they don't exist in just one way. That's the deepest reality awareness. It accounts for flexibility. Or in a relationship, as the mood changes – or even in a conversation, as the mood changes, as the conversation develops, we need to be flexible; for example, we need to change our tone of voice or change the way that we're doing things. It's this awareness (deepest reality awareness) that allows us to be flexible. If there's a problem with that, we have a lot of difficulty in relating to others, don't we?
These are five types of basic awareness. We all have them, and it's how our mental activity works. If we can recognize them, then we can work with them. We can see they can be adjusted and evolved. It's very important here.
Someone raised a question about dualism when we're working with these evolving factors, trying to make them grow, and so on. What's important is that we try not to do this from the point of view of there being a separate "me," separate from these five types of awareness or whatever. It's not like there is an observer who has observed what's going on, and then the controller is adjusting the knobs and the buttons on the apparatus. It's not like that. If we experience it like that, there is a great deal of self-alienation, and there are big problems with that.
In some Buddhist systems, we call that dualism, duality, a feeling of duality. This requires working with this whole understanding that mental activity is occurring all the time without there being any separate "me" that is making it occur. It just occurs. Although we can say "me," "it's my mental activity," and so on, that's just a way of referring to it. Although it may feel as though there's a solid separate "me," that's not really the way that the situation exists. To really work with these five Buddha-families, we need to do this within the context of this Buddhist understanding of how the self exists; otherwise, it can be a very artificial, alienated type of practice of this super-controller "me." "Now, I have to do this to myself." It is as though there is a "me" who is the controller and "myself," who is like the victim or the patient that we are controlling. That's very neurotic. Because one side of us is the judge, the other side is the criminal. There is guilt, paranoia and all this stuff that makes it very neurotic. This is very essential to remember when working with all these systems.
Obviously, it requires quite a bit of training and understanding to be able to work with this – it's just mental activity – and to be able to have adjustments without there being the viewpoint of there being a separate "me" making the adjustments. That's quite delicate and difficult to do. We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that's easy. However, if we are sensitive to this danger that's there, then we can watch out for it. When we start to go on the trip of the judge, having paranoia, guilt, and all of that, we can say, "Hey, this is really not actually what is going on. This is based on confusion." At least being aware of that danger is helpful, even if we are not able to reach the state yet in which the danger doesn't arise.
It's not that we're stupid, although it may feel like that. It naturally feels as though there is a separate "me." That's what makes what we call in Buddhism "samsara" so terrible. It naturally feels like there is a solid separate "me." It's because there is this voice in our head saying, "Oh my god, what should I do now? Oh, I'll do this. I'll change the facial expression." The voice is going on in our head, so it gives the feeling as though there is some separate "me" somewhere. Who knows where – maybe sitting in the back of our head – separate from the whole thing and is observing and controlling. That's just a vision out of a Walt Disney cartoon. It's not reality.
Sensitivity Training
We've been speaking about one of the systems of the five Buddha-families in terms of mental activity or mind. In this system of the five types of deep awareness, we saw that the mirror-like awareness is taking in information like the camera. Then, equalizing is putting several things together so that we can process that information, seeing the patterns or the categories. Then, there is seeing the individuality of the situation or person, relating; and then being aware of the conventional reality of what things are and the openness of flexibility that things may be conventionally like this now, but can be open to change.
In sensitivity training, we have some exercises for recognizing and cultivating these five. Before we get into the exercise, let me give some idea of how it would apply to our daily life. For instance, we are in a relationship with somebody and we come home, and we see our partner. First, we need to take in the information of how they look, their expression. Are they sad or looking very tired? Often, we just ignore that. We need to take in the information when they speak: the tone of voice, the emotion behind it. We take in all the information. It's the mirror or camera-like awareness. Then, we have to process it, so we see how it fits into the patterns of this person's previous behavior. We may think that perhaps they are upset with us, or whatever. We have to see how what we see and hear fits into the pattern of this person's behavior. This is equalizing, putting it together with other things we know about the person. We see what pattern it fits into, but it's not just, "Oh, they're upset again." We have to respect the individuality of this particular situation and see what makes this particular situation individual. It's not just yet another time.
Remember, all of these types of awareness will come together here with the reality awareness of what is it, what is the information, what is the pattern, and what is the individuality of the situation. Then, we put together the awareness to relate to the person with how to relate, which is what to actually do in response to this situation when we understand the information, the pattern and the individuality. It's not just the awareness to relate, but with conventional reality awareness of how to relate, what to do. Then, there is the deepest reality awareness, which is, although they may be like this now, they're not stuck in this particular situation as if it were stuck in concrete. This allows us the openness to be flexible, take in new information, as our interaction and conversation proceeds, and how we fit it into other categories, respond and are flexible in our interaction during the period of time while we're with the person. This is very important.
For example, a friend of mine tries to explain certain things to me or convince me of a certain point of view, advice about my work. He explains, and I understand and agree, but then he goes on for the next ten or fifteen minutes, continuing to try to convince me of a decision that I already said, "Yes, I agree." Still, he goes on and on, repeating. That's a lack of this flexibility. It's like really getting stuck at one point in the interaction. That's very boring, a lack of flexibility.
These five are very crucial elements or factors that we work with to develop proper balanced sensitivity to others. As a Buddha, they would be fully developed to their highest degree. A Buddha has them fully. If we notice in our interaction that we are lacking in one or more of these areas, then we really haven't taken in the information. If we come in and start talking to the other person, then we haven't really taken the time to take in the information that they may be busy. Very often, we walk in and start laying our whole trip on somebody, and we don't even pay attention to the fact that they are busy or upset. We need to know which area of these five we have to try to increase. The point is that these five are always there. It's just that they may not be functioning very fully, but they are always there. A worm has them as well.
Let's do an exercise. In sensitivity training, we do lots of exercises with many steps, but we will do just one here concerning these five types of deep awareness. Let's sit in a circle looking at each other. We will try to recognize these five types of deep awareness, one at a time, while we look at each other around the circle. We may know some people in the circle, and we may not know other people in the circle, that's not a problem. First, just take in the information, being the camera. In sensitivity training, we are always doing exercises on the basis of the two "legs" that go on in all the exercises. One is the quiet mind, not making comments about what we observe, thinking about something else, telling little stories, worrying, or all these mental stories or movies that might go on. We need to quiet the mind.
The other is the caring attitude, which is taking the other person seriously: you're a human being, and you have feelings just as I do. The way that I interact with you, the way that I speak and the way that I act are going to affect your feelings and mood, just as the way you interact with me is going to affect my feelings; in this way, we take the other person seriously, our behavior and our actions seriously. That's the caring attitude, because as we look at each other around the circle, it's not that we're just looking at people on the television, but these are real people here. They all have feelings just as I do. That's important; otherwise, it becomes very cold. Although we don't have time to do a whole big training in this, at least be aware of that. Let's try to not be like a distant observer looking at animals in the zoo.
Exercise: Camera-Like Awareness
First, we quiet down by focusing on the breath. If we can quiet down, then we can turn our energy to whatever exercise we are doing, whether it's meditation or whatever it might be. We will look around the circle at each person. If there is eye contact, then sometimes people seem to get stuck in that and get a little bit mesmerized by that contact, and maybe start to feel a little self-conscious. If it happens that there is eye contact, don't engage in it, but just go on. Eye contact isn't the point here. That's something else, so just go on. What we want to do here is to just be the camera, just take in the information about each person.
Now, the reality awareness usually comes in here. I know that a person is tired, or looks stressed, or this or that, but we don't need to actually verbalize that. When we meet with somebody, a live situation, we need to be able to take in all the information and know what that information is, but we don't actually categorize it all in terms of how the person is dressed, how they keep themselves, how they hold themselves, the expression on their face, all these sorts of things. We need to be able to just take in the information and what it is, without being like a radio announcer, announcing it all. That's what we mean by the quiet mind.
Let's do that in terms of being the camera. Go at your own speed around the circle. Don't feel compelled that you actually have to look at everybody. Don't go too slowly so that you only look at one person in five minutes, or too fast. When we're really very highly developed, then we can do this very quickly. My teacher Serkong Rinpoche, for example, at a big teaching with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, sat next to His Holiness and was always looking down, but occasionally he would look up at the audience for just a few seconds and then look back down. Later he would say to me, "This one was asleep, that one wasn't paying attention, this one was doing this and that one was doing that." To be able to see everything in just a few seconds like that, snap! The way we normally look is like a child at the zoo: "Ooh!" We have to stare at something with our mouth open and look at it for a long time before we actually are able to understand what we see. That can be speeded up and developed. Again, quiet down for a moment and, camera!
Exercise: Equalizing Awareness
This time what we'll do as we look around the circle is to look at two or three people together. From our distance here, we can see two or three people together quite easily. Try to see them together, equally. Let's try to do that in terms of all these three are human beings and have feelings just as we do. They want to be liked and not disliked, just as we do. They're all equal in that respect. Put them together without having to verbalize it. Quiet for a moment. Then, see the groups as people as equal, with respect.
Then, we look down, let the experience settle and focus on the breath.
Exercise: Individualizing Awareness
The people that we're seeing are not just a flock of sheep, in which we can't tell the difference between any of them; they're all sheep, but each one is an individual. It's not necessary to know the name of anybody here, but the next part of the exercise is that we look at each person as an individual with their own history, personality, circumstances and so on. It entails respect for the person as an individual, because if we are going to relate to somebody, it's unhelpful to have a standard way to deal with every sheep. We should relate in terms of the individuality of the person, custom-made to what is the situation of the person. Let's quiet down first and then look around the circle at each person as an individual, using individualizing awareness.
Exercise: Accomplishing Awareness
The next one is the accomplishing awareness: the awareness to relate. Here we look at each person with the awareness to relate to the person. In other words, in terms of the information, the pattern, the quality, that they want to be liked, not disliked. This is an individual, so based on all of this, then this is the awareness to relate in a way that would be appropriate to all this, which we know from the other type of awarenesses. This is a rather subtle type of awareness here. Because we may not know what an appropriate way to relate to the person would be if we don't know the other person very well. But just on the basis of whatever information that we might be able to gather, we would relate as best as we can.
Let's say we work in a store and a customer comes to us, and we can see this person is tired, in a hurry, friendly and so on. One would relate to the person in an appropriate way based on that. It is obvious that we are able to do this. In terms of if the customer is an adult, a small child or a very elderly person, obviously, we adjust the way that we relate. We don't speak to the eight-year-old child the way we speak to an adult.
Here, when we look around the circle, what we try to have is the awareness, the intention, or the wish of relating to this person in an appropriate way. What we experience here is a little bit like our energy going out to the person in a way to actually meet this person, not just meet another sheep and so on, but to this person as an individual. This is the awareness we are having here. We may not know exactly what that interaction is going to be, but it's very important to go that step: to put energy out and be open to meet you and interact with you. That's this relating awareness. Based on however much we know of the other types of awareness, we have some idea how to relate. Again, we start by quieting down, and focusing on the breath. Then, we look around the circle with the awareness: relate!
Exercise: Reality Awareness
Finally, we have the reality awareness, which is to see that the situation with the other person is open to change, and our own way of dealing with it is open to change. In other words, flexibility and openness. We're open to whatever will develop in the interaction. We will respond accordingly with openness and flexibility.
Please notice that in all five of these, what is fundamental here is an attitude of acceptance. We accept the other person the way they are in a non-judgmental way. We accept their individuality. It's not that we're judgmental and lay a whole trip on them. We accept how the interaction will unfold. This doesn't mean to be passive so that we don't do anything, but it is non-judgmental. "Open" means that we don't have fixed ideas about the other person, and we don't have fixed ideas about ourselves. Look around the circle with this type of awareness, this kind of mental activity, to be open.
We quiet down and look around the circle with this openness awareness, reality awareness. They're open; we're open. They're open to change; we're open to being flexible in our interaction.
Is there anything you would like to report back to the group in terms of what you learned, what you observed or any questions you might have?
I found that when we start this kind of exercise, in the beginning, I had a bit of hesitation: does this really work? In the second or third exercise, I find that it suddenly builds up and becomes real. It's like you are putting bricks on top of each other, then suddenly it feels real. There's a difference between hearing it and feeling it.
With any exercise, it takes time to get into it the first time we do it. Of course, we have some hesitations and doubts. It takes a while. That's natural.
The business of relating to people sometimes worked very well and sometimes there was no idea at all – it didn't work at all. I felt I was putting myself under stress if it didn't work well. I felt bad because it was not working well.
That actually is a good sign because it indicates to us an area that we need to work on. With certain types of people, we find that our energy goes out more easily to relate to them, and with other types of people or certain individuals, we might have some blocks. It shows us that these are the areas that we need to work on. However, because we're able to relate to some people – our energy goes out – that reaffirms that we have the possibility to relate to everybody, because the basic mechanism is there. That's the point of it being a Buddha-nature factor.
Then, we apply the five types of awareness to this particular emotional block. By taking in the information, we try to see the pattern. What is the pattern here? For instance, we can more easily relate to women but not men, or older people and not younger people, or people that we find pretty and attractive than people that we don't find attractive. We try to see what the pattern is and put it together. Then, in each specific situation that we're in, it's an individual case. We shouldn't lock ourselves into this pattern. Then, we want to relate to this problem; we want to deal with it. How can I overcome this? That's very important. We want to relate to this problem; we want to do something about it. To realize that during the process of dealing with it, we need to be open to being able to change or overcome this block. It's the openness awareness.
When we're aware that we have these five types of awareness, these Buddha-nature factors, then we have great confidence that we have a mechanism to be able to deal with any problem or blocks that we have. Obviously, we need other factors as well, such as compassion for ourselves, and these sorts of things. They all fit together. This is the important point of Buddha-family work, Buddha-nature work. We have all the tools already within. It's just a matter of recognizing them and knowing how to develop and apply them. We didn't even know that we had these or that we could apply them. But as we saw, even the worm has these five.
There's the phenomenon that there are certain people you don't want to relate to because you simply despise them, you don't like them. For example, there's a lady cleaning in my office, and I just don't like to meet with her because she is so talkative. So, I avoid meeting her. Whenever I come to the office, this woman is there, even if she should not be there. I wonder if there is a purpose I see her, in that I should learn something from the situation.
As we were discussing in terms of rebirth from the Buddhist point of view, it's not as though there's some outside higher authority that's dealing us lessons to learn, setting this woman there to challenge us. That's a very paranoid way of viewing our life. However, it's important to recognize that you are relating to this woman. The way that you are relating is by avoiding her. That mechanism is there.
Is this a satisfactory way of relating to this woman? What is the effect of the exercise earlier today? What is the influence this has on the other person? Not only what influence does it have on the other person, but what influence does it have on me? It makes me very uptight. Is this how I want to continue to experience this woman because, obviously, if we don't have the power to fire her, then we have to deal with her. We may not be so highly developed that we're going to become best friends with this cleaning lady, but we can certainly be creative and flexible enough to relate in a different way, at least in a manner in which we are not upset by her. We have to non-judgmentally accept that this woman is very talkative. This is the way that she is.
One way of relating to people is to set boundaries, to set limits, without feeling uptight, angry or guilty. It's important not only with the cleaning lady but with so many people in our lives. That's one way of relating that can be very beneficial to that other person. It's certainly beneficial to us. Set the limits and boundaries, but remain flexible. We need to be flexible according to the situation, but we need to be able to say in a relaxed manner, "Excuse me, I need to get back to my work," without feeling uptight about it, without rejecting the woman. Instead of saying something like, "Shut up and leave me alone!" very simply say, "Excuse me, I have to get back to my work."
Differences between the Gelugpa and non-Gelugpa Systems
This is one system of these five types of deep awareness, the system that we find in the anuttarayoga tantra (the highest class of tantra) as explained in the Gelug system. Now, we can quickly look at the way that it's explained in the highest class of tantra from the point of view of the non-Gelugpa systems, just to point out the variations. We won't do a whole big exercise on it. We just want to get a little feeling of what the variation is.
- Here in the non-Gelug system in place of this first type of awareness – remember we have the camera or mirror-like awareness – here we have the reality awareness. The reality awareness actually involves very much of what we had before, but there in the Gelug system, it was called the mirror-awareness. Here in the non-Gelug system, we're taking in the information as well as the conventional reality awareness that we had before. Take in the information, and it's this and not that: for example, this is a man, not a woman; this is an old person, not a young person, etc.
- Similarly, like before, we have the equalizing awareness: the pattern, putting it together, the individualizing and the relating types – that's the same.
- Finally, we have the mirror-like awareness, which is to open up and be like the mirror to take in all of that in the larger, larger context of everything. The context of an entire relation with this person, the context of our whole life, the context of everything about their life and the things they're doing. We may not know all the details, but that doesn't matter. The point is to be open to this person in this larger context. When we talk about openness here, it's this huge expansiveness of seeing something in the context of everything. That would not be so easy to identify on the basis of the worm, as this is much more something that we would work with on the path.
Thus, this is another way of presenting these five, and this kind of presentation of the five can also be very helpful. In our relations with somebody, what is a little bit different here is this last one: this different type of openness, this whole context. This is very important in terms of seeing our relationship with somebody in the context of our whole life and all the other relationships we have; otherwise, we over-emphasize it or under-emphasize it so that it doesn't fit into a balance with what is going on. That can apply this open, expansive view in terms of a relationship with this person by seeing it within the context of our relationships with everybody else in our life.
It's very interesting that when we want to be loved by a person, it doesn't matter that other people love us, but it's this person that we want to love us. It's a very interesting phenomenon. The other people don't really count. Also, in terms of a fight with somebody, a disagreement with somebody we're in a relationship with, it's very important to be able to be open to see that incident in the context of the whole relationship, instead of blowing it up and then identifying the entire relationship with this one little incident. See the whole picture, then this is just one particular incident, nothing more, nothing less.
If we try to think about how does a worm have this, then we have to go back to the image of the mirror (this is called the mirror-like awareness in this system). Think about it. The mirror takes in the entire visual sense field, the whole thing. We may only pay attention to a little part of what we see, but actually, we see the entire visual field, don't we? That's this openness, seeing the whole context.
Does the worm understand the concept of what a mirror is?
No, not at all, but the worm sees an entire visual field. Even though the worm may only be focused on this colored shape, which is food in front of it, the worm actually does perceive the entire visual sense field. I assume that worms have eyes, but I don't really know. It's an analogy. We know a fly has eyes, and it sees the entire sense field, the whole context. We do have that ability to open up and see the entire context. It's just a matter of broadening what is that larger context. Like this, we can't say that one system is better than another system. It just gives us slightly more to work with.
We'll continue tomorrow with another system of deep awareness: the one that we find more in the system of namshe yeshe. These are different types of awareness that Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche works with within this Maitri space awareness. This is yet another way of looking at the five types of mental activity.


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The son of New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has been accused of rape by a woman he met in October.
Greg Kelly, 43, co-host of "Good Day New York" on Fox News and one of the best known anchormen in New York is co-operating with authorities say police.
The case is being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney's office rather than police because of the position of Commissioner Kelly.
Greg Kelly has strongly denied the charges the Associated Press reported.
His lawyer, Andrew M. Lankler, released a statement on Wednesday evening.
"Mr. Kelly is aware that the New York County District Attorney's office is conducting an investigation," the statement said. "Mr. Kelly strenuously denies any wrongdoing of any kind, and is cooperating fully with the district attorney's investigation. We know the district attorney's investigation will prove Mr. Kelly's innocence."
Read more:
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The woman, said to be in her late 20s or early 30s, made the allegations on Tuesday at the 13th Precinct in New York even though the alleged incident occurred on October 8th.
The woman stated that she met Kelly on the street on October 8th and they went for drinks at the South Street Seaport. Later they went back to the law office in lower Manhattan where she worked and the assault allegedly occurred there.
Her boyfriend picked her up later that night and stated that she was distraught and very emotional.
The New York Times reports that the couple kept in contact by phone and text after the incident.
The girl's boyfriend later approached Commissioner Kelly at a public event and claimed that his son had ruined his girlfriend's life.
Greg Kelly is a Marine Corps veteran who joined Fox News in 2002 and was their White House corespondent from 2006 to 2007.
Both Commissioner Kelly and his son are prominent and much respected figures in the Irish American community. Commissioner Kelly is a former Grand Marshal of the St.Patrick's Day parade.


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In a Monday morning interview, the New York captain Brendan Quigley and player Ross Wherity were both very confident as they approach what will be both players' first appearance for New York in the county jersey against Mayo at Gaelic Park on Sunday, May 4.
Both have played for their respective counties in the All-Ireland championship, with Quigley lining out for his native Laois while flying forward Wherity has played for Jim McGuinness' Donegal.
Before he made himself available, Quigley was asked by present Laois manager Tomas O'Flaharta if he would consider rejoining the Laois panel in Ireland. After a winter of gym programs Quigley is firmly in the New York corner.
"The training here was pretty much like home, gym programs and training three nights a week," stated the big midfielder.
When asked if New York would be playing to the strength of the midfield combination of Alan Raftery and the captain he added, "Hopefully we can play to our strengths across the field."
Wherity added, "We need to play a style that they don't want to play too. We are definitely going out to try and win the game. You always do."
That is certainly a breath of fresh air to the New York scene, as for too long the thought of just playing the game prevailed.
Team manager Ian Galvin said, "We are looking forward to playing Mayo. A lot of our players have played at this level before so it will not hold any surprises."
The lack of games in the lead up was again a talking point.
"If we could get the Division 4 winners out here a couple of weeks before our championship game and theirs, it would be a huge help to both us in New York and also to the league champion," Galvin added.


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Delta Kits of Eugene, OR, a provider of windshield-repair and headlight-restoration equipment, has reported making charitable donations in excess of $25,000 for 2013.
For the month of December, Delta Kits donated 50 percent of all windshield-repair and headlight-restoration service profits to the Eugene Mission, a homeless shelter providing meals, safe shelter, clothing, and social services to over 600 men, women, and children in Lane County. The last week of December, 100 percent of all service profits were donated.
In 2013, Delta Kits donated to a variety of charities including non-profit organizations like Living Water and LIFE Outreach that provide food, clean water, and medical care to those in need. Delta Kits also contributed to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation and the local chapter of the Ronald McDonald House. Most recently, a windshield repair system was donated in connection with non-profit organization Kuswera, to give an individual the opportunity to become a business owner and create a better life for his family.


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Arnold Schwarzenegger -- I'm Huge at Muscle Beach!
Arnold Schwarzenegger I'm Huge at Muscle Beach!
Arnold Schwarzenegger loves the artwork in Venice Beach ... of himself.
While riding around his old pumping ground at Muscle Beach Tuesday, the 65-year-old former Mr. Olympia stopped to take a pic in front of a larger-than-life mural of himself posing during his ridiculously huge bodybuilding days.
Ahnold is obviously a big fan of the painting by artist Jonas Never, since he posted the photo on Instagram with the comment, Then and now - great mural here in Venice.
He's quite a piece of work.


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believe (v.)
Old English belyfan "to believe,"
earlier geleafa (Mercian), gelefa (Northumbrian), gelyfan (West Saxon) "believe,"
from Proto-Germanic *ga-laubjan "to believe," perhaps literally "hold dear, love"
(cf. Old Saxon gilobian "believe,"
Dutch geloven,
Old High German gilouben,
German glauben),
ultimately a compound based on PIE *leubh- "to care, desire, love" (see belief).
Spelling beleeve is common till 17c.; then altered, perhaps by influence of relieve, etc.
To believe on instead of in was more common in 16c. but now is a peculiarity of theology;
believe of also sometimes was used in 17c.Related: Believed (formerly occasionally beleft);
Expression believe it or not attested by 1874;
Robert Ripley's newspaper cartoon of the same name is from 1918.
Emphatic you better believe attested from 1854.


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KUTV News Reporter Passes Out on Live TV, Continues to Report Seconds Later
In this video, KUTV reporter Brooke Graham passes out in the middle of an interview, only to keep it rolling along seconds later. Who doesn't love a good, hard-working reporter, right?
Graham was in the middle of interviewing members of the Utah Nordic Alliance at the Mountaindale Golf Course when she passed out mid-sentence. Members Richard and Katie were about to teach her some of the basics of cross-country skiing when Graham fell backwards, microphone still in hand.
Like a battle-hardened trooper, Graham shrugged it off seconds later and continued the interview, giggling as if she wasn't enshrouded in the blackness of being unconscious just moments before. Want to see a professional? Here is a professional.
On her personal blog, Graham expressed her appreciation for well-wishers but said, "However, this is not the first time I have passed out cold. I am known to faint any time I am in high altitudes and get too cold."
She also said that she feels like "someone should dub Keisha [sic] 'Timber' over it and play the fall in slow motion." However you slice it, Graham is one certifiable badass. We wish her the very best health in future interviews.


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BARROS, ANTONIO THADEU - Embrapa | |
FOIL, LANE - Louisiana State University | |
Li, Andrew | |
Guerrero, Felicito |
Submitted to: Workshop Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 11/21/2012 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The horn fly (Haematobia irritans) is a major cattle pest in the American continent, causing yearly economic losses of over US $860 million in Brazil. Frequent use of chemical insecticides has led to the development of insecticide resistance, leading to significant economic losses and environmental issues. Monitoring, and management of resistance primarily rely on insecticide bioassays; however, the current technique requires to test multiple concentrations that limited its use as the large number of flies are needed. Although synergists are powerful tools in resistance mechanism studies, little information is available regarding the effect of the oxidase inhibitor piperonyl butoxide (PBO) on horn flies. The present study is aimed to develop a diagnostic concentration (DC) bioassay for detecting cypermethrin resistance as well as to evaluate PBO toxicity and synergism to cypermethrin in horn flies. Dose- and time-response bioassays of horn flies to impregnated filter papers were conducted to establish a cypermethrin DC bioassay using horn flies from a susceptible colony (ARS-KBUSLIRL, Kerrville, TX). Complementary molecular studies (PCR) were performed to look for knocking down resistance in surviving flies from bioassays. The DC bioassay was later tested in field populations at the LSU Experimental Stations. Studies on PBO were conducted at LSU with susceptible colony flies (ARS-KBUSLIRL) and resistant field populations. Toxicity of PBO concentrations (0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20%) to horn flies and respective synergism to cypermethrin were evaluated at 1, 2 and 4-hr dose-response bioassays. Cypermethrin at a concentration of 3.19 µg/cm2 caused 99% mortality of susceptible flies in 1hr, thus was regarded as a reliable DC for detection of cypermethrin resistance. Suitability of this DC was validated under field conditions. Even high PBO concentrations showed low toxicity to horn flies in bioassays; however, the highest cypermethrin+PBO synergism was achieved by the lowest concentration (0.5%) of PBO. The single concentration bioassay makes the technique cheaper, faster, and more practical, expanding its use in resistance research and monitoring programs. Results from the PBO toxicity and synergism studies contribute to improving research on mechanisms of metabolic resistance in horn flies. Ultimately, such study may also help improve horn fly control and resistance management. The future of scientific cooperation between Embrapa, ARS-KBUSLIRL, and LSU, mainly on the control and resistance of livestock pests is also discussed. USDA is an equal opportunity employer. |


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In 1887, Dr. Joseph James Kinyoun founded the Hygienic Laboratory, from which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) evolved. This Web portal explores the fascinating life story of Joe Kinyoun, the acknowledged Father of the NIH, and the crucible of social, scientific, and political forces during his time that were associated with the dawn of the microbial era in the United States.
E Âhrén. Taming Dreaded Diseases in the 1800s: Joseph Kinyoun, the Hygienic Laboratory, and the Origins of the NIH. The NIH Catalyst 20(6), November-December 2012.
DM Morens and AS Fauci. The Forgotten Forefather: Joseph James Kinyoun and the Founding of the National Institutes of Health. mBio. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00139-12 (2012)
Video: NIH Research Festival - Uneasy Death: Three Things that Haunt Me 93 Years After My Passing—October 9, 2012
NIH Podcast about Dr. Joseph Kinyoun and his role in NIH history—July 2012
Video: The Forgotten Indispensable Man - Joe Kinyoun and the Birth of the NIH—September 26, 2011
Visit the NIAID Flickr page to view images related to Joseph Kinyoun.


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Transformers Galaxy Force was the Japanese Takara Tomy release of the Transformers: Cybertron Toyline. Galaxy Force in Japan and Cybertron in the US was the final toyline in the Transformers Unicron Trilogy and followed both Transformers Energon and Transformers Armada. Toys in this toyline were heavily futuristic space based and included Cyber Keys. These large discs featured designs based on the planet of origin each unlocked pop-out weapons and action features in each toy once plugged into the key slot. These cyber keys were interchangable with any other figures in the line.
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7123.1.55.001 - Agricultural State Profile, New South Wales, 2006-07
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/08/2008
Page tools: Print Page Print All | ||
An overview of the agricultural industry in New South Wales. Ideal for school students' project work. Covers farm numbers, agricultural production and the state's agricultural contribution to the economy. Includes mapped data, historical data from 1861 and data provided at the Statistical Division level.
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Oasis' OH-5 Plus + instrument humidifier keeps your guitar, or any other wooden instrument, in prime condition with the correct level of humidity. It's important to keep the relative humidity above 40% to prevent the instrument from cracking. With this comprehensive set, you can measure humidity levels and administer the instrument humidifier. It includes the OH-5 Plus+ Humidifier and OH-2 Digital Hygrometer with clip for attaching near the instrument or in the case.
Oasis OH-5 Plus+ Humidifier
While the original Blue Oasis provides sufficient humidity in many environments, it is not effective everywhere. The humidity demands of the desert, mountain states or frigid north exceed the humidification capacity of the device. For this reason, Oasis developed the Oasis Plus+ humidifier. The Plus+ is the same size and shape as the original blue Oasis, but is made of a different material that provides 50% more humidity output.
Because the Oasis Plus+ HumidifierPlus+ is the same size as the original Blue Oasis and it has 50% greater humidity output, it will be necessary to refill the Oasis Plus+ more frequently than the original Blue Oasis.
If one is using a hygrometer, Oasis recommends that the Oasis Plus+ be used when the room humidity is below 25%. The original Blue Oasis should be used when the surrounding room humidity is between 25-40%. Above, 40%, you should not be using a humidifier.
It is important to also to monitor the humidity inside your instrument case. Case size, design, material and other factors will impact the humidity permeability of each case. While general rules are helpful, a good hygrometer located inside the instrument case will give you the best information regarding proper humidification requirements.
OH-2 Digital Hygrometer w/clip
The Oasis Digital Hygrometer accurately measures relative humidity and can help you decide when to use your Oasis Guitar Humidifier. Because relative humidity varies greatly, even inside your home, we recommend that you keep your hygrometer close to your instrument.
With the convenient case clip, it is now possible to measure the relative humidity inside your guitar case. The new clip attaches to the back of the hygrometer and is mounted on the flap of the supply box inside your guitar case.
Don't risk a crack in your guitar. Order today.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


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① Describe job
② Get Instant Best Price in London
BATHROOM FITTING in London | 1. Describe job 2. Get Instant Best Price
Bathroom fitting in London - everything you need
We install and repair: Bath tubs, toilets, bidets, pedestal basin, Saniflo systems, underfloor heating, change taps, extractor fan, shower mixer, emergency plumbing, etc..
A 112 Bathroom fitting specialist will discuss with you to find the best solutions and will install everything in your bathroom.
If you are not sure what parts to buy, where to place a shower or how to choose the right heating solution, talk to us. An experienced bathroom fitting specialist in London will give you the best advice.
BATHROOM FITTING in London | 1. Describe job 2. Get Instant Best Price


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Letter From the Mayor
Welcome to the City of Zeeland's home page on the World Wide Web. Incorporated in 1907 and named after the Province of Zeeland in the Netherlands today we still benefit from the early heritage created for us by those who came from this Province
Zeeland has long been regarded as a quality place to live and to work. A cooperative spirit exists among leaders in business, education, churches, government and community residents. State statutes provide incentives for the city to offer tax abatements and low-interest financing to our local industrial and commercial establishments as a means to foster growth in our community. City-owned utilities and abundant water offer competitive prices and capacity for development also, providing business with an incentive to locate or expand their facilities here. The City of Zeeland has reaped the benefits of the creation of new jobs and an increased tax base through these means. Local businesses have responded also by devoting time and financial resources to charities, city projects and services.
In discussions with business leaders, it is apparent that a major reason Zeeland has such a diverse and expansive employment base is the strong work ethic and commitment of area employees. Business start-ups, relocation choices and expansion decisions are often determined by the skill levels, work ethic, and local spirit found in a community. This important aspect of the Zeeland community has played a central role in the excellent economic welfare of this area.
Excellent economic welfare develops and continues because of a cooperative spirit among business leaders, the public sector, and the people who make up a community. The members of the Zeeland City Council, City of Zeeland staff and I eagerly work with the Zeeland Chamber of Commerce and the business community in continuing to grow and prosper.
We hope you find our home page interesting and informative. We invite you to visit often to watch our site develop. Thank you for visiting.
Mayor Kevin Klynstra
Kevin Klynstra
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Dear friend, Do you know that Jesus Christ has opened the way for you to be forgiven? Would you like to be forgiven for all the sin that you have ever committed?
Do you know that Jesus loves you in spite of your sin? Do you want to receive God's forgiveness now for all the sins that you have ever committed?
I am sure that you know that you have sinned in one way or the other.
You have certainly had bad thoughts. You might have wished that evil should befall someone who did you wrong. You might have had the thought of having a sexual relationship with someone who is not your wife or husband. You might be holding a grudge against someone in your heart. You may be planning to carry out some evil deed. If you want to be honest, you will own up to the fact that your thoughts have not been one hundred percent pure since you were born until today.
The problem has not only been with your thoughts. Your words have also been sinful. You have probably insulted someone or mocked another. You have probably spoken evil of someone behind the person's back. You have possibly quarreled. You have perhaps used your lips to paint a picture of yourself that is not true. You have lied at least once. You have exaggerated things. In telling stories, you have added things to them that were not quite true. If you want to be honest, you will acknowledge the fact that all that you have spoken since you were born until now, has not been what it should be.
However, the problem has not only been with your thoughts and words. There are also your actions. You have possibly carried out one or more of the following actions which God hates because they are sinful: stealing, laziness, fornication, adultery, drunkenness, gluttony, bribery, corruption, going to sorcerers, practising magic, consulting mediums, using charms, etc.
All your sins – be they in thought, word, or deed – are primarily against God. They are secondarily against man. God created you to belong to Him 100%; to serve Him with all your heart, and to do His will in every way. Sins are deviations from this purpose of God. Sins are a kind of declaration of independence from God. When a person sins in his thoughts, words, or deeds, he is telling God, "I do not want to belong to You 100%. I do not want to serve You with all my heart. I do not want to obey You 100%." This is the real meaning of sin.
Because God created man to obey Him 100%, love Him 100%, serve Him 100%, and do His will 100%, anyone who obeys God 99%, loves Him 99%, and does His will 99%, has failed God. He is a sinner. A sinner is someone who fails totally or partially to obey, love, and serve God as God wants. By this failure, the person is a sinner. He has sinned. All that concerns him is sinful. He has committed sin. He has failed to be all that God wants him to be. All the other sins that are committed are just the result of sin, which is the failure to be all that God wants. You may be asking yourself why God cannot accept someone who loves Him 99%, obeys Him 99%, and does His will 99%. The reason is that anything that is not complete cannot satisfy Him. Look at it this way. If you had one bottle of clean, pure water, and one drop of poison was added to it, would you still like that water? I believe you would not like it. In the same way, that 1% of love, obedience, and service that is not given to God, is like poison to Him. He will not accept the 99%. Look at it in another way. If someone wanted to enter a bus to travel to town, but was late by one second, and got to the bus stop just as the bus was taking off, would he not have missed the bus completely? He would almost have got into it, but he would not have got in. The persons who were five minutes, five hours, five days, etc, late, would also have missed the bus, and the situation of the person who almost got in would not be any better than theirs.
Sin is a serious thing to God. Because He is holy, He cannot tolerate sin. He must separate Himself from sin. Because God will always hate sin, He will separate Himself eternally from sinners. He will punish them and they will cry out from the lake of fire forever and ever, but there will be no answer. The Bible says, "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for the murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death"(Revelation 21:8). Those who have sinned a little and those who have sinned much are all lost. The judgment of God is upon all of them. If you have sinned in a small or big way, you are lost. You are going to the lake of fire. It is only a matter of time, and you will be there.
It could be that you have already realized the fact that you are a sinner — that you have not succeeded to live without sin. Maybe you realize that the judgment of God is waiting for you. It may be that you have begun to reap some of the fruit of your sin. It may be that your life is without purpose. You have no sense of direction. The guilt of your sin is heavy on you, and you want to receive the forgiveness of your sin now. If that is your case, there is a wonderful solution to your problem.
God saw that all human beings had sinned and were lost. He saw that not one person sought Him, loved, or obeyed Him 100%. He saw that all human beings would go to hell unless something was done. He decided to do something.
God sent Jesus Christ, His only Son, to come into the world and bear the punishment that all sinners ought to have borne. Jesus went to the cross, where each sinner, and you, in particular, ought to have gone. He died on the cross where you ought to have died, because of your sin. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, God put all the sin of the whole world, and your own sin in particular, on Him and He carried it for you, and died in your place. God put on Jesus Christ all the sins that you had committed in the past, all the sins that you are committing now, and all the sins that you will ever commit in the future. He put it all on Him and He carried the judgment for it by dying on the cross for you. On the cross, Jesus cried, "It is finished." He was saying, "I have finished the act of carrying your sin. I have finished the act of being punished for your sin. I have finished the act of carrying all the consequences of your sin."
Because Jesus Christ died for you and bore the punishment that you ought to have borne, YOU CAN RECEIVE THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN NOW. God wants to forgive your sin now. You can receive the forgiveness of sin now by following the three steps below. Read them and do as they say, and the forgiveness of sin will be yours immediately.
AGREE with the Word of God that you are a sinner. Agree with God that you have not loved Him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength, etc, and that your thoughts, words, and deeds are not what He wants them to be. Agree with Him that you have sinned in your thoughts, your words, and your deeds and that you deserve His punishment in the lake of fire. Agree with God that you cannot change your sinful heart yourself by trying to belong to one religion or another, or by trying to do one good act or the other.
AGREE with God's Word that Jesus Christ, who is God's Son, is God's Answer to your problem. Agree with God that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you as an individual. Agree with Him that all your sin was put on Christ and that He bore the judgment which you ought to have borne. Agree with God that there is no other person apart from Jesus, who can forgive your sin since He alone died for you.
ACT OUT what you agree. Receive forgiveness from God through Jesus now. Receive the forgiveness now by praying in the following way: "Lord God, I have sinned in my thoughts, words, and deeds. I deserve Your judgment. However, You love me, and sent Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sin. I believe that because He died for me, You have forgiven my sin. I now receive Your forgiveness by faith in the Lord Jesus. I now take Jesus as my Lord and as my Saviour. Thank You that all my sins are forgiven now. My punishment and my guilt have also been taken away. I am forgiven. I am free from the consequence of sin. I will use my freedom to love You with all my heart and to obey You always as a sign of my gratitude to You for saving me. Amen."
If you have prayed the above prayer sincerely, then you can be sure that the Lord Jesus has immediately forgiven you, made you God's child, written your name in the book of life, and you will never perish.
Rejoice in your forgiveness of sin. Begin to read the Bible every day, and begin to pray to God through Jesus, who now lives in you.
God bless you, I love you.


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Waverly Pet Rescue
Our Mission
The primary purpose of Waverly Pet Rescue is to find loving and responsible homes for all the animals is our care, to educate the community about responsible pet ownership, to promote spaying and neutering all pets, and to provide a caring environment where those animals can live without fear of being euthanized before that forever home is found.
Adoption Policy
Waverly Pet Rescue does not have a phone. ONLY way to reach us is by EMAIL: waverlypetrescue.mchsi.com
Check out our new web-site!
Application link to the right is for Cats and Kittens only.
Here is the Dog Application that you can copy and paste into a browser:
Waverly Pet Rescue is NOT A SHELTER; all our animals are in foster homes.
To be eligible to visit an animal, you must first fill out our online application; then we
can arrange for you to meet the pet you are interested in.
If you would like to adopt one of our cats or kittens, please click on the online Adoption Application link on the right side of this page.
Here is the Dog Application that you can copy and paste into a browser:
Or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you have any questions.
Donations with PayPal can be sent to: email@example.com
Waverly Pet Rescue is an all volunteer, no-kill rescue based in Waverly, Iowa.
Our adoptable animals live in loving foster homes.
Waverly Pet Rescue is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Your donations are tax deductible.
Waverly Pet Rescue has been in continuous operation since August, 2006.
The organization was conceived and is operated by a fifth generation Waverly
native with a passion to help homeless animals.
Waverly Pet Rescue primarily serves small towns in northeast Iowa without
animal shelters or other means to care for homeless animals.
Waverly Pet Rescue animals live in loving volunteer foster homes until
adopted… no matter how long that takes.
**Adopting a friend: IMPORTANT**
1. Waverly Pet Rescue does not hold pets. If asked for further information,
you should provide it as soon as possible or another home meeting all qualifications may be chosen to adopt the pet you want. Please arrange to see the animal you
want as soon as possible because again, we do not hold them.
2. We do not adopt on a first come, first served basis. We select the best home.
3. We reserve the right to refuse anyone a pet, for any reason. We are devoted
to the animals in our care and do all we can to make sure they are placed in good
4. Waverly Pet Rescue is operated solely by volunteers. Please be patient with
our response back to you.
5. All prospective adopters are required to complete the application and interviewing
process before adoption approval.
6. No dogs will be adopted if they will be kept strictly outside. Cats will only
be adopted if they are to be kept strictly inside.
Waverly Pet Rescue does not have a phone. ONLY way to reach us is by EMAIL: waverlypetrescue.mchsi.com


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pg module defines only a few methods that allow to connect to a database and to define "default variables" that override the environment variables used by PostgreSQL.
These "default variables" were designed to allow you to handle general connection parameters without heavy code in your programs. You can prompt the user for a value, put it in the default variable, and forget it, without having to modify your environment. The support for default variables can be disabled by setting the -DNO_DEF_VAR option in the Python Setup file. Methods relative to this are specified by the tag [DV].
All variables are set to None at module initialization, specifying that standard environment variables should be used.


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4,893 words
"We can't go back. We can't go back to the savages: not a stride. We can be in sympathy with them. We can take a great curve in their direction, onwards. But we cannot turn the current of our life backwards, back towards their soft warm twilight and uncreate mud. Not for a moment. If we do it for a moment, it makes us sick.


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Looking at pictures of the Moon, even from the historic "giant leap" photograph, it is easy to understand why scientists used to think of it as a big dust ball. However, "conventional wisdom" has been changing over the years. This is largely due to the information garnered from missions such as NASA's 2009 Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (L-CROSS) lunar-impact probe, as well as new scanning technologies and more precise measurements, which have been facilitated by enhanced instrumentation and improved analytical detection limits, on samples returned to Earth following the Apollo missions.
In a paper published in the Feb. 17 issue of Nature Geoscience, researchers Hejiu Hui, postdoctoral research associate of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences at the University of Notre Dame; Anne H. Peslier, scientist at Jacobs Technology and manager of the electron microprobe at the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division at Johnson Space Center; Youxue Zhang, the James R. O'Neil Collegiate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan; and Clive R. Neal, professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences at Notre Dame, show that they have detected significant amounts of water in the samples of the lunar highland upper crust obtained during the Apollo missions. The lunar highlands are thought to represent the original crust, crystallized from a mostly molten early Moon that is called the lunar magma ocean.
Their findings indicate that the early Moon was not only wet, but also the water that was there was not substantially lost during the Moon's formation. This new evidence seems to contradict the predominant lunar formation theory — that the Moon was formed from debris generated during a giant impact between Earth and another planetary body, approximately the size of Mars. According to Hui, "the presence of water in the early Moon needs to be reconciled with the favored formation scenario that had been supported by the volatile elements and isotopes in the samples, such as zinc."
As little as five years ago, no one had detected water in the samples returned from the Moon. The advancement of instrumentation, such as secondary ion mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, has made it possible to detect tiny, but measureable, amounts of water in the mineral grains from Apollo samples. "It's not 'liquid' water that was measured during these studies but hydroxyl groups (developed from water that did exist in the lunar magma ocean) that was distributed within mineral grain," says Hui. "We are able to detect those hydroxyl groups in the crystalline structure of the Apollo samples."
The hydroxyl groups the team detected are evidence that the lunar interior contained significant water during the Moon's early molten state, before the crust solidified, and that they may have played a key role in the development of lunar basalts. "The presence of water," says Hui, "could imply a more prolonged solidification of the lunar magma ocean than the once popular anhydrous moon scenario suggests."
Contact: Clive R. Neal, 574-631-8328, email@example.com


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Date: 1950s
Size: 15.5 x 23.5 inches
Notes: Poster, lined
Artist: Van Rompaey
Information: For more details, please call 514 656 3301
About The Poster: Created in 1933, the French National Lottery became widely popular after the media coverage of barber Paul Bonhoure's win of five million francs in the first draw. In a very enlightening article "Loterie nationale : Mythes et symboles" written in 1969, the influential French journalist and author of many books on consumerism, education and advertising proposes an in-depth analysis of posters commissioned by the French lottery. The lottery was said to have hired some of France's best designers, developing a corpus of some of the most effective posters in history. The poster has recently been professionally linen-backed and is in excellent condition.


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Security research firm NSS Labs has released an open source scanning tool that is capable of detecting all malicious drivers used by the new Duqu threat, according to its engineers. However, other security vendors believe that the malware's creators are capable of evading detection at any time.
According to NSS Labs, its scanner uses advanced pattern recognition techniques and was created to further research Duqu, the piece of malware that has captured the attention of the entire security industry in recent weeks.
Many experts believe that Duqu is closely related to the Stuxnet industrial sabotage worm discovered last year. The new threat borrows attack techniques and even code from what has been described as the most sophisticated piece of malware of all time.
The security research community has so far determined that Duqu infects systems by exploiting an unpatched vulnerability in the Windows kernel through rogue Word documents, that it has a modular architecture that includes a rootkit component operating as a system driver, and that it targets organizations with the purpose of exfiltrating sensitive information.
"This tool was developed in the hopes that additional drivers can be discovered to allow us to learn more about the functionality, capabilities and ultimate purpose of DuQu," the NSS Labs engineers who created the open-source scanner said in a blog post.
The security company claims that the tool is capable of detecting Duqu drivers without any false positives and that it even picked up two samples discovered after its creation.
However, Costin Raiu, director of the global research and analysis team at antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab, raised some concerns about the tool's scope. "It's useful, however I believe its heuristics rules are too narrow," he said.
According to him, any heuristic tool that detects Duqu drivers should also detect the Stuxnet ones, because of the high similarity between them. This doesn't appear to be the case with the new NSS Labs scanner.
Kaspersky Lab doesn't currently offer a removal tool tailored specifically for Duqu, because of the threat's complexity, said Raiu. "Just a single removal tool is simply not sufficient. Each infection case should be treated very seriously and we recommend the victims to contact us immediately for full forensics," he added.
Analyzing the other components left by Duqu on infected systems, aside from the malicious drivers, is equally important according to the security expert, because they might provide information about what the attackers were after.
Raiu doesn't believe that the open-source nature of the NSS Labs tool makes it easier for Duqu's creators to evade detection. "Evidence shows that the authors of Duqu and Stuxnet made sure their malware was undetected at the time of the attack anyways, so they are already bypassing detections," he said.
"Open source or not, it shouldn't be a problem for them to create new undetected components in the future," Raiu added.
His opinion is shared by Mikko Hypponen, the chief research officer at antivirus firm F-Secure. "Creators of Duqu are world class. They would have no problem evading detection of any scanner if they wanted to," he said.
NSS Labs is not only offering the scanner for free, but also the complete reverse-engineered Duqu code and other resources. However, the code will only be available to researchers who contact the company and pass its vetting process.


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Auto racing is one of the few international sports where both men and women compete on the same field. This Sunday, the Indianapolis 500, one of the highest profile races in the world, will feature more women than ever before: Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher, Ana Beatriz and Simona De Silvestro. Patrick came in 3rd place last year–could she take the checkered flag this time?
It has been 33 years since Janet Guthrie was the first woman to be allowed to compete in the Indy 500, and things have changed considerably since then. As Guthrie recounts in her biography, a few years before she raced in Indianapolis even the press box had been off- limits to women, let alone the garage or pit area. A woman could be a photographer, a reporter or even own the race car but couldn't get anywhere near it during the race. Most established drivers believed that women were too weak to handle a 750-horsepower, 200-mph championship race car, saying, "Women don't have the strength, women don't have the endurance, women don't have the emotional stability and women are going to endanger our lives"
While the qualification of this year's contingent of women Indy drivers demonstrates how many of these misperceptions and challenges have been overcome, women drivers still have to put up with plenty of sexism. In 2005, when Danica Patrick won Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500, the head of Formula One racing, Bernie Ecclestone, commented after the race–and later repeated to Patrick herself–"Women should all dress in white like other domestic appliances."
During qualifying rounds this year, Patrick has already faced criticism at an outburst in which she blamed her team for her car's lacking performance. Surprisingly, her comments were broadcast over the track's PA system. after which she was booed by some fans. (Feminists might also question how Patrick has marketed herself as much on her sex appeal as on her driving skill over the past five years.)
Women race car drivers face an overwhelmingly male fan base and working environment. The machismo that defines the public image of motorsports makes certain fans unwilling to recognize that racing that women can be endowed with the same mental and physical prowess as the men they compete against. Insistent on viewing women race car drivers as sexy diversions–a position not helped when the drivers themselves play into that stereotype, albeit in order to earn hard-to-come-by sponsorships–such fans are likely to continue to minimize their successes.
But as the numbers of women competing in the Indy 500 continue to rise, and the women drivers' results improve, it will be harder to discount them as athletes. The four pioneering women competing in the race this Sunday not only shatter myths about their ability to compete equally against men, but also prove once again how many arenas thought to be exclusive to men were the product of male insecurities rather than female inadequacies.
UPDATE: Danica Patrick finished an impressive sixth in the Indy 500; following her in the standings were Simona De Silvestro at 13th, Ana Beatriz at 21st and Sarah Fisher at 26th. You go, girls!!!
Photo of race-car driver Danica Patrick from Creative Commons; Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic